The 53rd edition of the Tirreno-Adriatico, organized by RCS Sport / La Gazzetta dello Sport takes place from 7 to 13 March 2018. The race starts owith the Team Time Trial in Lido di Camaiore and ends with the classic Individual Time Trial in San Benedetto. In memory of Michele Scarponi, on Sunday 11 March, the 5th stage will finish in Filottrano, the city of the unforgettable Italian rider.

Scarponi climbed up onto the final podium of the Tirreno-Adriatico three times, winning the 2009 edition, and was second (tied on time with the winner, Stefano Garzelli) in 2010 then third, behind Cadel Evans and Robert Gesink, in 2011.

It’s a classic route with the opening Team Time Trial on the Versilia seafront at Lido di Camaiore (21.5km); two stages for sprinters (stages 2, Camaiore-Follonica, and 6, Numana-Fano), two suitable for the finisseurs (stages 3, Follonica-Trevi, and 5, Castelraimondo-Filottrano "Tappa dei Muri"), an uphill finish - Saturday 10 March (stage 4) - which will bring the group from Foligno to Sarnano (Sassotetto) with over 14km of final ascent. The race ends with the traditionally exciting Individual Time Trial of San Benedetto del Tronto, 10km long.It’s a classic route with the opening Team Time Trial on the Versilia seafront at Lido di Camaiore (21.5km); two stages for sprinters (stages 2, Camaiore-Follonica, and 6, Numana-Fano), two suitable for the finisseurs (stages 3, Follonica-Trevi, and 5, Castelraimondo-Filottrano "Tappa dei Muri"), an uphill finish - Saturday 10 March (stage 4) - which will bring the group from Foligno to Sarnano (Sassotetto) with over 14km of final ascent. The race ends with the traditionally exciting Individual Time Trial of San Benedetto del Tronto, 10km long.

Now in its 53rd edition, the race will see 154 riders on the start line, representing 22 teams between them. Among them will be many of the best cyclists in the world, including the entire Tour de France 2017 podium and two thirds of the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España podiums, thanks to Chris Froome (winner of Tour and Vuelta), Tom Dumoulin (winner of the Giro), Vincenzo Nibali (third at the Giro and second at the Vuelta), Rigoberto Uran and Romain Bardet (respectively second and third at the Tour). And if this wasn't enough, among the riders fighting for the General Classification will be Fabio Aru, Richie Porte, Mikel Landa, Miguel Angel Lopez, Adam Yates, Rohan Dennis and Geraint Thomas.

The list of stage hunters is also impressive, starting with the three (consecutive) times UCI Road World Champion Peter Sagan, his historic rivals Greg Van Avermaet and Michal Kwiatkowski, Philippe Gilbert, Diego Ulissi, Edvald Boasson Hagen and the sprinters Fernando Gaviria, Mark Cavendish and Caleb Ewan – among the many candidates for a stage win.

Speaking of boredom, isn't it about time they tried something different for the closing (and opening) stage?

There were some rumours over the winter that the San Benedetto del Tronto council weren't going to stump up the cash (RCS wanted ~70k), but they obviously came to an agreement. Stages 3-5 look tasty, but it would be great if they weren't bookended with the same old same old.

They could start by turning stage 6 around. I agree with Leadbelly. These bookend stages, every year, are very stale.At least Paris-Nice managed to come up with something a bit different within the Paris suburbs.

Oh and dare I say it? Stage 4 might looks better without the MTF tagged to the end.A couple more of those teeth to make it even more of a leg breaker, then have stage 3 or 5 as a straight forward MTF.

Disappointed to read that from Gaviria.Comes across as more than a bit churlish.Look what happened 7kms out on that circuit to the GC boys who were caught behind.Who is he to define what Kwiatkowski's goals for the race may be?Surely he remembers how Milan-San Remo panned out last year....

Yep, notwithstanding the fact it shouldn't be a MTF I really like this shark tooth stage on paper, reminds me of T-A during what was a golden period several years back (every T-A and Giro would have a stage like if it were up to me).

no real action until the final climb again - apart from Kelderman crashing out of gc contention. Adam Yates then attacked and Bora (although still pretty well positioned with Majka, Formolo and Oss in that group) was unable to close the 15-20s gap for Sagan

With Kelderman finishing last, this probably looks like Kwiatkowski's race to lose now. There's not much competition left to threaten him in the time trial, eventhough the course isn't quite perfect for him.

Tomorrow's stage is unlikely to change much in terms of gc, as the fun part comes right in the beginning:

There could be some rain though, and with Ewan out of the race and Kittel likely to struggle in that part, a strong break could go clear and fight for the win in the end.

well, I was hoping for a good stage today, but instead all what happened all day way Gaviria causing a mass crash inside 10k to go. Sagan was involved as well, but somehow made it back to the front.

From the gc contenders, Pozzovivo and Bardet lost ~50s and dropped two places in GC - but given their (lack of) time trial abilities, they probably weren't too confident in storming up the order tomorrow anyway.

Here's the full startlist for tomorrow, and the starting times for some of the potential contenders:

Funny that Sagan's bike handling skills got almost if not more notice than Kittel's second win. I only saw the highlights so I didn't get the full impression of the feat he achieved, but he certainly adds a different dimension to the spectating experience, which is always welcome on a flat stage.

TT today should be a formality for the guy in Pole position, not if but by how much. I think Caruso will do a decent ride and Thomas may have enough anger stored up to reach the podium.

Hard to say how things will shake out beyond that. Uran could also overtake Landa; Benoot and maybe Bennett will hold their spots or do a little better. Formolo might slide. Nibali could scratch the top 10 on a good day.

He says the new bike alone brings him an advantage of more than one minute over one hour.

Translated to the distance today, that would mean something like a ~10-15 seconds improvement compared to last year, I think - where he finished 17 seconds behind the winner Rohan Dennis. Curious to see how it goes...

He says the new bike alone brings him an advantage of more than one minute over one hour.

Translated to the distance today, that would mean something like a ~10-15 seconds improvement compared to last year, I think - where he finished 17 seconds behind the winner Rohan Dennis. Curious to see how it goes...

I think that is what other riders leaving were hinting at when they mildly (or perhaps professionally) said that the team didn't really have a TT focus.

Funny that Sagan's bike handling skills got almost if not more notice than Kittel's second win. I only saw the highlights so I didn't get the full impression of the feat he achieved, but he certainly adds a different dimension to the spectating experience, which is always welcome on a flat stage.

TT today should be a formality for the guy in Pole position, not if but by how much. I think Caruso will do a decent ride and Thomas may have enough anger stored up to reach the podium.

Hard to say how things will shake out beyond that. Uran could also overtake Landa; Benoot and maybe Bennett will hold their spots or do a little better. Formolo might slide. Nibali could scratch the top 10 on a good day.

Kittel/Sagan: the sprint win was nice, but the escape/chase/sprint to 2nd was more dramatic, by a considerable margin. Since the media looks for drama as the story, well, no competition, I think. It was a shame for Gaviria. Sagan was right behind him, but rolled THROUGH the carnage, somehow seemingly unscathed, but with one foot unclipped for balance, and all a bit akimbo. He clips back in and rides past the intersection. I didn't see the bike change - only got that in the reporting. They did show a bit of him chasing. And the bunny hop shortcut was a "Holy sh*t, Batman!" sort of moment. Nobody else dared take that shortcut. Four km of chasing and effort, and he still manages to challenge for the win.

I like your thoughts on the TT. Caruso has beaten Kwiatkowski in other TT. I think his team is trying to keep it low key for Caruso. It should be an interesting day. I will be interested to see how Landa does, too.